Guarding home base - Letters - Letter to the Editor

Washington Monthly, Jan-Feb, 2004

In your article, "Corps Voter" (November), and in your comments on C-SPAN's "Washington Journal," you noted that the Republican Party is perceived as the party that "supports the military." That is a myth that operates as truth. If you were to poll the American people to ask them which branch of the military service Dick Cheney had served in, I think that most would name a branch. Of course, Cheney never served; he avoided the service with educational deferments essentially the way Clinton did. Conservatives were successful at branding Clinton a "draft dodger," but the current administration has largely avoided being stigmatized in the same fashion. Amazingly, a great number of Republican hawks never served in the U.S. military in their lives.

Harold Weber

Oceanside, Calif.

I read with interest your hypothesis that the military may bolt the Republican Party in the aftermath of the Iraq war. Having worked for the military for over 25 years, I think some of your suppositions are a tad out of touch. I hear on a daily basis how wonderful George W. Bush's administration is. The military I work for continually lauds the job done by this president.

In essence, the military vote their pocketbook; as long as they think (rightly or wrongly) that Republicans will give them better salaries and privileges, they will solidly stay in the ranks of the Republican Party. I respect and admire some military, but they are just as fallible and human as anyone else, no better no worse.

The modern military has very little loyalty to anything but their bottom line; in that way, they are no different than the majority of workers in this country. Many GIs joined the military because it is a family business, passed down from fathers to sons and daughters; the salary and job security seem good (until a war is called). Yes, there are some gung-ho, enlisted loyal-to-the-core types, but in my experience, they are few and far between.

Barbara Schuler

A Civ 74 MDOS/SGO

Via email

This is a very well-written article. However, one important issue affecting troop morale has been overlooked: the heavy usage of civilian contractors. The dirtiest, most dangerous jobs are reserved for the lower ranking (and lower paid) enlisted troops. Less dangerous jobs are given to civilians who make more money and can go home pretty much whenever they want to. When the civilian janitors and cooks make more than the GIs dodging the bullets, more than a few of those GIs are bound to be tempted to rethink their career choice. It's also hard to understand why hiring civilian contractors is a good deal for the U.S. taxpayer, but hiring more troops is too expensive.

As for concurrent receipt, I do not understand why Republicans are so determined to block relief for disabled veterans. I retired without any disabilities, so the concurrent receipt issue doesn't affect me personally, but I am appalled by the betrayal of my fellow veterans. The $5 billion per year price tag could easily be paid for by slightly rolling back recent tax breaks on dividends. For that matter, partially rolling back tax breaks on dividends and on the upper tax brackets would allow us to pay for rebuilding Afghanistan and Iraq, rather than pushing the debt on to our children. As a fiscal conservative who is careful to live within her means, I am not one bit happy with the new Republican Party.

Linda Allen

USAF Retired

Corpus Christi, Texas

I am a lifelong Democrat, my husband a registered Republican, but both our political views are progressive. We raised our children in this atmosphere and hoped that both would espouse our beliefs. My daughter, thankfully, shares our views. My son, however, went to West Point. He is a career Army officer who has just recently returned from Iraq. He's intelligent, articulate, and a leader admired by those he commands as well as by his superiors. We're very proud of him, but the Army made him a Republican.

Thank you for your balanced and thought-provoking commentary. Now, I can see the reasons why the military has believed that Republicans best represent their interests. I hope that you're correct that the tide is changing. I'm forwarding this article to my son. It can't hurt.

Loretta Knorr

Via email